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Geek war! 'Game of Thrones' author feuds with 'Lost' show runner

April 6, 2011 | 2:03
pm

Gather round, yon fantasy nerds, for the beef of your lifetime, or at least this month: "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin just dissed 'Lost,' and like any self-respecting geek, 'Lost' show runner Damon Lindelof is fighting back... on Twitter.

In the most recent issue of the New Yorker, Martin said he felt cheated by the conclusion of "Lost" and didn't want his "Song of Ice and Fire" series to cause the same sense of disappointment in his fans."I want to give them something terrific," he said. "What if I [mess] it up at the end? What if I do a 'Lost'? Then they'll come after me with pitchforks and torches."

Lindelof took to the tweets to stand up for himself using some language that can't be printed here. Some choice nuggests from his tirade: "George? You got yourself a feud ..." "I've just been informed George is working on his feud response. I'll have it in FIVE YEARS!" "Two final thoughts, George. A. They weren't dead the whole time. B. 1997 called. It wants its web design back."

But in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lindelof admitted that, as a huge Martin fan, his feelings were kinda hurt. "When he uses phrases like '[messing] up the ending' or 'I felt like someone dropped a turd on my doorstep,' you know: Look, 'Lost' is my baby, and you don't put baby in a corner. I feel duty-bound, just for my own sense of integrity, to respond publicly."

Lindelof confessed that he and "Lost" co-show runner Carlton Cuse were surprised about all the "Lost" backlash. "We both thought it was, like, completely and totally, empirically brilliant," he said. "We were shocked to learn that there were a lot of people who thought it was a cop-out."

But he insisted that he didn't want Martin to have to face the same chagrin. "The fact of the matter is I'm going to watch 'Game of Thrones,' and I'm probably going to love 'Game of Thrones'...There's not even a small part of me that wants him to screw up his ending, so he will understand my pain."

But wait, doesn't he have just a little bitterness reserved for Martin? You might find it on Twitter, where Lindelof is still battling fans about the "Lost" ending. "Until I am worthy of the New Yorker," he wrote, "this is the platform I've got." Maybe The Man in Black can help hook him up with a profile?